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On June 23, 2012, the owner of a 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Custom Convertible contacted the Pasadena Police Department to report that his vehicle had been stolen from a warehouse where he had just stored it the night before. Pasadena officers verified the theft and entered the vehicle’s information into the state and federal crime computers, which automatically activated the LoJack transponder concealed in the Bel Air.

A short time later, officers from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Northeast Division were patrolling the area of Eagle Rock when they picked up the Bel Air’s silent LoJack homing signal on the LoJack Police Tracking Computer installed in their police cars. At the same time, LAPD Air-10 and Air-16 flight officers also picked up the convertible’s LoJack signal. Following the directional and audible cues on the LoJack computers, the officers tracked the vehicle to a hilly area of Los Angeles, just outside the Glendale city border. The flight officers directed the ground units to the 2500 block of Las Flores, where they located a Chevrolet Silverado attached to a large car trailer. Officers first checked the truck and discovered that it had been reported stolen to the LAPD’s Foothill Division three days earlier, and it belonged to an LA County Deputy. The officers then opened the side door of the 2005 Carson Race trailer and located the stolen 1956 Chevrolet inside. Further investigation revealed that the trailer, too, had been reported stolen to the LAPD’s Foothill Division three months earlier.

Pasadena CSI and officers responded to the scene and after processing the vehicles, released them to their respective owners. The Bel Air convertible was the only vehicle equipped with a LoJack system, but it enabled the safe recovery of all three vehicles. The total value of the recovery was more than $120,000: the convertible is valued at $100,000, the Silverado at $16,000 and the trailer at $5,000.

The case will continue to be investigated by Pasadena Police and the LAPD Commercial Crimes units.

Portions of this story were obtained from the Pasedena and Los Angeles CA Police Department